Philosophy (Witt) and Communications (Lillie)

A particular passage that stood out to me in last nights reading was one regarding place. Zeno says “If place exists, where is it? For everything that exists is in a place.Therefore, if place exists, then place is in a place. This goes on to infinity. Therefore, place does not exist.” (70). The way this idea is worded confused me, so I took it sentence by sentence to try and develop an understanding for it.

I believe Zeno is saying, everything that “is” or that exists; for example, a person or object, is in a place. Therefore, if everything is in a place, place is also in a place. Place is included in the “everything” category making it in a place. This goes on to infinity, so Zeno reaches the conclusion that place doesn’t exist. This explanation answers Zeno’s original question: one can not find place because it doesn’t exist.

I think this passage stuck out to me because I knew it was a powerful idea; however, I didn’t understand it. Although, after breaking the argument apart I do have a better grasp on the concept. This idea of infinity is one that confuses me because I can’t picture it in my head. I do not agree that place doesn’t exist. I think “everything” and place are two separate entities. Place is the space in which everything exists; I do not think it is part of the everything. Hopefully after class discussion this idea will become clearer to me.